A maths master at a top girls' school was sacked for having an affair with one of his pupils.

At 34, Andrew Bolton was nearly twice the age of the sixth-former.

But he insisted he only began seeing Shona Upton once she left the school, an employment tribunal on Tyneside was told.

Mr Bolton, former head of maths, is claiming unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination against #1,220-a-term Newcastle Church High School.

The 118-year-old school, whose motto `Vincit Omnia Veritas' means Truth Conquers All, is one of the region's most prestigious and has a roll of about 600 pupils.

Mr Bolton, of Daylesford Drive, South Gosforth, Newcastle, said Miss Upton left in July 2002 after finishing her A-levels and their affair began the following month.

But the school insisted she remained a pupil of theirs until the end of the following month.

And the headmistress said she believed the affair had started before Mr Bolton said it did.

Lesley Smith, school head, told the Newcastle hearing that although students finished their exams on July 5, they were still technically pupils until August 31.

She added: "During August the school is open for a fortnight while the examination results are dealt with.

"No teaching actually takes place.

"We certainly would have responsibility for Shona during the course of the summer holidays. We don't say she has left then.

"We are responsible for dealing with her results and outcomes of it."

She went on to say that although a relationship between Miss Upton and Mr Bolton existed when he said it did, she said she believed it had been developing since about October the previous year.

She said: "I accept that there had been no direct evidence that it had started before August 2002.

"I believe that an inappropriate relationship had started before that.

"I do not say that sexual intercourse had started before that.

"There was an instance where Shona was seen to be alone with him in a classroom.

"The fact that they were spending time alone together was in itself inappropriate.

"It is wholly inappropriate for a member of the teaching staff, male or female, heterosexual or homosexual, of any age, to have relations with a girl which singles her out in a way that does not treat her in exactly the same way as any other pupil."

Mr Bolton started at the school in September 2000 and was dismissed in December last year following an investigation.

Mr Bolton's representatives maintained there was no evidence to show the relationship had started earlier than he said. Simon Goldberg, on his behalf, said statements to the contrary were at best second-hand or more remote.

And, in a statement to the tribunal, Mr Bolton said he was surprised the school saw Miss Upton as a pupil until August 31.

He said he understood students ceased to be pupils when they left school.

He added: "Shona, like most sixth-formers, had taken her A-level exams and had left the school.

"She had a place at Newcastle University which she had accepted.

"Following the school's argument, if she had left school in June and accepted permanent employment in July she would still be a pupil. This is not correct."

Mrs Smith said a relationship between the pupil and master could have started developing on Shona's side after an incident at the Brandling Pub, near the school in Tankerville Terrace, Jesmond, in October 2001.

Then a woman teacher reported seeing Miss Upton approach Mr Bolton and grope his groin area and an altercation followed.

Mrs Smith told the hearing: "This was put to Andrew. He did not deny it, correct it, make any statement or complaint about it.

"He shrugged it off as being horseplay really.

"It was an insignificant event unless other things had followed.

"At the time, I did not suspect there was a relationship between them.

"In October I just thought she grabbed out at the nearest teacher because she was drunk.

"But other events after that suggest she grabbed out at a particular teacher and there was something on her side in a way.

"My conclusion was that a relationship could have been developing on Shona's side."

Mr Bolton claimed thereafter he was treated differently to his colleagues, most of whom were female.

He said he was asked not to be alone with pupils and told to see students about their work at lunch-time support sessions in rooms where others could be present.

He added: "I would be very surprised if a female colleague was being told that they could only provide teaching support to their pupils at times when others were there to effectively chaperone them."

He went on: "I do not believe the school would have reacted to rumours regarding a female teacher in the manner in which they have reacted towards me.

"I do not believe that I have committed any disciplinary offence whatsoever by having commenced a relationship with a former pupil of the school.

"Both Shona and myself are consenting adults and as such we should be entitled to conduct our relationship in privacy."

In his statement, he said he did not believe he had done anything wrong and returned to school in the autumn term, making no attempt to keep his relationship a secret.